On the other hand, he knew Bette was only trying to limit Diane’s, and everyone else’ exposure to whatever risk lay ahead in this whole situation. From the little that Diane had conveyed in their brief phone call, Tyler could piece together that someone was after Bette — someone with resources. Someone ruthless.

He threw his hands up in frustration, not knowing how to counsel Bette in this situation, torn between his natural instinct to also protect his daughter, and his gut feeling that Bette needed help.

Bette read him with sympathetic eyes, and gave him a small smile. ”Tyler, please go. Take Diane. If I need help, you’ll know where to find me. Remember that emergency app we both downloaded?” she asked, as she rubbed his arm quickly, attempting to convey her sympathy through her touch, over his ethical dilemma.

He nodded his head.

”Okay, you and I know that that icon actually works…”

”Yes.”

”So, if I’m in trouble, and I tap on that, you and I know this will immediately light up yours, Brom’s, and Tina’s phones,” Bette reminded him, in calm, steady tones. ”So, really, there’s no problem here. You and Diane won’t be too far away from me, and I’m sure you’ll both be at my side in less than a minute if your phone lights up, if I tap on that icon,” she added, and then gave him a broad, encouraging smile.

Before he had a chance to equivocate any further, she turned to head back to the sofa. And get Diane out of trouble. More than one kind of trouble.

Tyler blew a breath out, and followed Bette back to where Tycho and Diane were sitting and apparently, still able to converse in a friendly manner, he thought, despite the tension.

Bette took a seat on the other high-backed winged antique chair, opposite Tycho, at the other end of the long low-slung coffee table. Tyler followed closely behind her, and tapped Diane’s shoulder, then whispered in her ear what he and Bette had discussed.

Diane looked over at Bette quickly, and started to open her mouth to protest, but, between Bette’s steady glance back at her, and Tyler’s squeezes on her shoulder, she saw that they had decided they would not allow the discussion to start while she was in the room. So if she insisted on staying, this would mean unnecessarily delaying what Tycho had to urgently advise Bette about.